STURDY Act

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1314) to require the Consumer Product Safety Commission to promulgate a consumer product safety rule for free-standing clothing storage units to protect children from tip-over related death or injury, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 1314.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak in support of H.R. 1314, the STURDY Act. I want to begin by thanking Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee Chair Schakowsky for championing and reintroducing this critical piece of legislation, which will help protect children from deadly furniture tip-overs.

Tip-overs remain one of the top five hidden hazards in the home. According to new data from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, between 2000 and 2019, tip-over incidents have been linked to more than 450 child fatalities and tens of thousands more injuries.

Every 46 minutes a child is injured in a tip-over incident. The victims tend to be young children who are curious and creative, eager to climb and play make-believe with the world around them. But dressers pose a deadly danger, and their crushing weight can lead to tragedy in just minutes.

These incidents often happen silently, too. Parents who have lost children from furniture tip-overs report never hearing the dresser falling because the child's body had absorbed the brunt of the impact or a child was pinned in such a way that he or she couldn't even scream or cry out.

The current voluntary furniture stability standards are woefully inadequate and have not stopped children from dying from unstable dressers. In March, Consumer Reports reported on two tip-over incidents, including one death that happened within 1 week of each other, highlighting the ongoing and urgent need for this lifesaving legislation.

Our children deserve a strong, mandatory standard that keeps them safe from such a common household danger. Right now, the current voluntary standard only applies to dressers 30 inches or taller, despite multiple fatalities and injuries involving shorter dressers.

Also, the voluntary testing doesn't incorporate the upper weight range for children affected by tip-overs. It also ignores real-world dynamics, such as the movement of drawers and different flooring surfaces that a dresser might be resting on.

The STURDY Act would finally establish a strong mandatory furniture stability safety standard and protect children from being crushed under the weight of their bedroom furniture. This legislation will save lives, and that is why I call on my colleagues to support this measure.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky), the chairwoman of the subcommittee and sponsor of this bill. I am sure many have noticed today that many of these bills that protect consumers, particularly children, have been championed by Ms. Schakowsky.

Mr. Speaker, I also urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, as a senior member of the Judiciary Committee and the founder and Co-Chair of the Congressional Children's Caucus, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1314, the ``Stop Tip-Overs of Unstable, Risky Dressers on Children Act,'' or ``STURDY Act,'' which directs the Consumer Product Safety Commission to adopt a stronger, mandatory stability standard for clothing storage units within one year of enactment, following the streamlined rulemaking process that it has used for numerous children's products.

A tip-over can involve a piece of furniture, often a dresser or other type of clothing storage unit, falling onto a small child.

These dangerous episodes can lead to a trip to the emergency room, or even death.

A child is sent to the emergency room because of a tip-over incident every 60 minutes, and on average, 1 to 2 children die every month.

Children age 2 to 5 are at the highest risk--their motor abilities allow them to navigate the home by themselves and their intellectual development makes them curious about objects that might be out of reach.

In June 2016, IKEA recalled 29 million dressers and chests due to a tipover hazard;

at least 8 children died in tragic tip-over accidents and hundreds of children have been injured by IKEA furniture.

Mr. Speaker, relying upon a voluntary standard for dressers is not enough to protect our children from tip-overs.

The voluntary standard only tests whether a dresser or drawer will tip with 50 lbs. hanging from an open drawer.

This standard has not proven stringent enough to reduce tip-overs, and it also only applies to dressers over 27 inches.

Even as weak as it is, dressers do not have to meet this voluntary standard.

That is why the STURDY Act is needed; it will help prevent the deaths of children from tip-overs.

Specifically, the STURDY Act:

1. Mandates testing on all clothing units;

2. Requires testing to simulate the weights of children up to 72 months old;

3. Requires testing measures to account for scenarios involving carpeting, loaded drawers, and the dynamic force of a climbing child;

4. Mandates strong warning requirements; and

5. Requires the CPSC to issue the mandatory standard within 1 year of the STURDY Act's enactment.

I strongly support H.R. 1314, the Stop Tip-Overs of Unstable, Risky Dressers on Youth Act, and urge all Members to join me in voting for its passage.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Pallone for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, since 2000, more than 460 children have died from furniture tip-overs, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission has reported that tip-overs cause an average of 25,500 emergency room- treated injuries every year as children are crushed, trapped, or stuck by furniture.

These deaths and injuries should never have happened in the first place, but they continue to happen because current furniture stability standards are both inadequate and only voluntary. We can't continue to allow the furniture industry to regulate itself. It hasn't worked and it has come at a cost of children's lives.

That is why I have reintroduced the legislation, the STURDY Act, H.R. 1314, which would strengthen and make mandatory furniture stabilization standards for clothing storage units.

No parent should have to worry about their children being injured, or worse, by a piece of furniture.

I want to give a special shout-out to the organization Kids In Danger that has been advocating for this for a long time, and for the moms who came to this Congress and told the stories of their lost children because of these tip-overs. Their stories have moved everyone who has heard them.

It is time now that we act. We can do something to help prevent these furniture tip-overs that put our Nation's children in danger.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, this bill directs the Consumer Products Safety Commission to issue a consumer product safety standard for clothing storage units to protect children from tip-over related injuries, as the chairman stated.

The CPSC has recognized this as one of the top five potential hidden hazards in the home, with an average of one child fatality every 2 weeks from falling furniture and appliances. It is good to restate it because people need to know.

We support this bill moving forward with House passage today. I thank the chairwoman of the subcommittee, my colleague, Ms. Schakowsky, for championing this bill; along with Mr. Cardenas and all of the members of the Energy and Commerce Committee for their efforts.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1314, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairwoman Schakowsky for championing this very important bill. The best ideas come from the people, from our constituents.

Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of this bill swiftly, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to section 11 of House Resolution 486, I move to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 482, H.R. 704, H.R. 961,